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US Politics > Congress > Flashcards

Congress Flashcards

1
Q

Are members of Congress directly or indirectly elected?

A

directly

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2
Q

How many members are in the House of Representatives and the Senate?

A

House - 435
Senate - 100

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3
Q

How often are the number of seats per state changed?

A

every 10 years based on population change

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4
Q

Give an example of seats for a state changing?

A

In 2010, Texas went from 32 seats to 36.

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5
Q

How long are the terms served by members?

A

House - 2 years
Senate - 6 years

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6
Q

How often is the Senate up for election?

A

1/3 of it every 2 years

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7
Q

How many states only have 1 member in the House?

A

7

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8
Q

What are the requirements to be a Senator?

A
  • 30 years old
  • US citizen for at least 9 years
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9
Q

What are the requirements to be a House member?

A
  • 25 years old
  • US citizen for at least 7 years
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10
Q

What are the powers of the Senate?

A
  • ratifying treaties
  • confirming appts
  • trying cases of impeachment
  • choosing the VP when the electoral college is undecided
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11
Q

What are the powers of the House?

A
  • beginning consideration on money bills
  • bringing charges of impeachment
  • choosing the president if the electoral college is undecided
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12
Q

What are the concurrent powers?

A
  • creating legislation
  • oversight of the executive
  • overriding vetoes
  • initiating constitutional amendments
  • declaring war
  • confirming appts of VPs
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13
Q

Describe the power to create legislation.

A

outlined in Article 1. Both houses are equal as all bills must pass all stages and neither house can override the wishes of another. The president also has to ask for Congress approval as Obama did with the Affordable Care Act in 2010 while Trump asked for a range of tax cuts on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act 2017.

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14
Q

Describe the power to oversee the executive.

A

The power is implied in Article 1 Section 8. The oversight occurs almost exclusively in committee rooms.

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15
Q

Describe the power to override the President veto.

A

If a president vetoes a bill, Congress can veto the veto with a 2/3 majority in both houses. During Trump’s term, 1 of his 10 vetoes were overturned. This was the National Defence Authorization Act.

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16
Q

Describe the power to initiate constitution amendments.

A

Houses are equal in this power. Must be approved by a supermajority before being sent to the states for approval.

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17
Q

Describe the power to declare war.

A

Both houses must agree. Last happened in 1941 when entering WW2.

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18
Q

Describe the power to confirm a VP.

A

Only happens when they fail to be elected.

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19
Q

Describe the power of the House to begin money bills.

A

the HOR is responsible for raising taxes and the collection of money. The Founding Fathers thought that people should not have their money collected by those who were not directly elected.

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20
Q

Describe the power of the House to bring charges of impeachment.

A

Given in Article 2 Section 4 and allows them to begin the removal of a president from office. Trump was impeached twice but neither were successful.

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21
Q

Describe the power of the House to choose the president.

A

If the electoral college is in deadlock then they can pick the president. Has not occurred since 1824.

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22
Q

Describe the power of the Senate to ratify treaties.

A

Can ratify if there is a 2/3 majority. The president must keep the Senate fully informed while negotiating treaties. In Dec 2010, they voted to ratify by 71 votes to 26 the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

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23
Q

Describe the power of the Senate to confirm appts.

A

Needs a simple majority. Trump was lucky and able to appt 3 SC judges due to the death of Bader Ginsburg. His last appt was Coney Barrett who was approved 52 votes to 48.

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24
Q

Describe the power of the Senate to try in impeachments.

A

They have the sole power to determine innocence or guilt. In 2020, Trump was acquitted. After his second impeachment, 43 voted ‘not guilty’ and 57 voted ‘guilty’.

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25
Q

Describe the power of the Senate to choose the VP.

A

If the electoral college is undecided, they can appt the VP.

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26
Q

How many house members ran for senate seats in 2016?

A

12

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27
Q

Why is the Senate more prestigious?

A

You are representing a whole state, not just a constituency.

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28
Q

How has the Senate been described?

A

a launching pad for presidents

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29
Q

What is the salary of members of Congress?

A

$174,000

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30
Q

Which house has more power?

A

Senators generally have more exclusive powers such as confirming appts and ratifying treaties while the House has more financial power and both are equal in legislating.

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31
Q

What are the 3 functions of Congress?

A

oversight, legislating and representation.

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32
Q

What are the 2 models of representation?

A

Trustee and Delegate

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33
Q

Explain the Trustee model.

A

the legislator has the formal responsibility to legislate on behalf of the people.

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34
Q

Explain the delegate model.

A

the representative should make decisions solely on what their constituents want.

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35
Q

How can representation be split?

A

1 - who the legislators are and if that is representative
2 - how they choose to represent the people

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36
Q

What percentage is women in congress? (2019-21)

A

24% despite being 50.8% of the population.

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37
Q

How well represented were black and Hispanic people in the 2019-21 congress?

A

Black - 10.4% but 12.1% of the population
Hispanic - 8.5% but 16.7% of the population

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38
Q

Describe incumbency rates in Congress?

A

Consistently high since 2000. Usually slightly higher in the House. The highest for the House was 97.8% in 2000 and the highest for the Senate was 96.1% in 2004.

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39
Q

Why is it can advantage to be an incumbent in relation to services and recognition?

A

You can provide constituency services and therefore run your election campaigns based on what you have done for your constituency - giving an advantage.
They also have an official website.
The have franking privileges which allows them to email constituents.
Have higher levels of name recognition.

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40
Q

Why is it can advantage to be an incumbent in relation to pork barrel politics?

A

Pork barrel politics is the ability to provide funds for a project in the representative’s constituency. they are especially designed to benefit the electorate to try and gain re-election.

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41
Q

How much was spent on pork barrel politics in 2019?

A

$15.3 billion

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42
Q

Give an example of a pork barrel project.

A

Arts programme in Washington Dc in 2018 - a sum of $2.8 million was allocated to the national arts project in Washington.

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43
Q

Why is it can advantage to be an incumbent in relation to fundraising?

A

In 2018, incumbent Senators raised 7 times what newcomers raised and House members raised 8 times.
As incumbents are more likely to get elected, they can raise more.
They have more cash for media appearances and advertising.

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44
Q

Why is it can advantage to be an incumbent in relation to gerrymandering?

A

the governing party of a state legislature can alter boundaries to help incumbents, This was shown in North Carolina where in 2020, the Democrats won more votes but the Republicans won more seats.

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45
Q

Which factors affect voting behaviour in Congress?

A
  • political parties
  • congressional caucuses
  • the administration
  • constituencies
  • pressure groups
  • lobbyists
46
Q

How do political parties influence voting behaviour?

A
  • increasing polarisation
  • sometimes have party unity votes where almost everyone within a party votes the same way
  • can use a few ‘sticks’ or ‘carrots’ to encourage voting
  • they often vote against their party as each party encompasses a large range of ideas
47
Q

How do caucuses influence voting?

A

members of certain caucuses are usually all inclined to vote in the same way

48
Q

What are the 4 official caucuses?

A

the House Democrats, the House Republicans and the same two in the Senate.

49
Q

What is the official name for other caucuses that have emerged?

A

congressional member organisations.

50
Q

What are the 3 main functions of a caucus?

A
  • education: eg the pro-choice caucus
  • agenda setting
  • encouraging support in votes
51
Q

What is the Blue Dog coalition?

A
  • a group of mostly southern House Democrats who are fiscally conservative
  • formed in 1995
  • currently 18 members in the House
52
Q

What is the House Freedom Caucus?

A
  • founded in 2015, most right-wing
  • all members Republican
  • supports limited govt and the constitution being the rule of law
53
Q

What is the Congressional Black Caucus?

A
  • formed in 1971 for black members from both houses
  • almost entirely democrats
  • claims to be bipartisan
54
Q

How does the administration influence voting?

A
  • keeping in contact with Congress
  • talk with members on Capitol hill
  • Speakers will liaise with the WH
  • all persuasion must be regular, reciprocal and bipartisan meaning that it can be less influencial
55
Q

How do constituencies influence voting?

A
  • they are representing them
  • some states have the ‘locality rule’ where members must reside in the state they represent
  • typical house members have their origins in their constituency
  • House members face re-election every 2 years so must be careful
56
Q

How do house members engage with constituents?

A
  • keep in touch via phone or mail or etc
  • make regular visits home
  • hold interviews, town hall meetings and appear in the local media
  • posting their activities on social media
  • switching between the delegate and trustee model a lot
57
Q

Give an example of representatives voting in the interests of their constituency.

A

12 republicans voted against the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act 2017.

58
Q

How do pressure groups influence voting?

A
  • make direct contact with members and staff
  • attempt to generate pubic support
  • make visits, calls and petitions
  • can donate money to parties
59
Q

How much did the financial sector donate to the parties in 2020?

A

$75 million

60
Q

How do lobbyists influence voting?

A
  • often employed by interest groups
  • provide accurate information to legislators to help them appear knowledgeable on the topic
  • can be very informative and persuasive
  • maintain offices in Washington and major cities
61
Q

What are the 6 stages of legislating?

A
  • introduction
  • committee stage
  • timetabling
  • floor debate and vote
  • conference committee (optional)
  • presidential action
62
Q

Describe the introduction stage.

A
  • just a formality
    -House: a copy of the bill is placed in the clerk’s tray
  • Senate: the title is read on the Senate floor.
  • Bills are then sent to the appropriate committee.
63
Q

What % of bills introduced were enacted in the 2019-21 Congress?

A

1%

64
Q

What happens in the committee stage?

A
  • most important stage
  • most bills fail here
  • the standing committee members are regarded as policy specialists and are therefore able to make the decisions on if the bills are suitable or not
  • once decided, they will hold a session to amend the bill before passing it on
65
Q

Describe the timetabling stage

A

Senate: uses a unanimous consent agreement in order to create a timetable for which the bills will be debated
House: uses the House Rules Committee who decide the order.

66
Q

Describe the floor debate and vote

A
  • debates and amendments are made
  • they then go to the vote. it is done electronically in the House and via a roll-call of the Senators
  • voting takes 15 mins
67
Q

When did Congress agree to remote voting?

A

20th May 2020

68
Q

What is a fillibuster?

A

a device by which senators can delay action by debating the bill at crazy length.

69
Q

What did Bernie Sanders do?

A

spoke out against a tax deal in 2010 that Obama was trying to reach with the Republicans for 8.5 hours.

70
Q

How is a filibuster ended?

A

a closure where 3/5 of the Senate want them to stop

71
Q

What happens in the conference committee?

A

have declined in use over the last 25 years but they reconcile two different bills that come from the Senate and the House into one.

72
Q

What actions can the president take at the end of the legislative process?

A
  • signing the bill into law
  • leaving it on their desk
  • regular veto
  • pocket veto
73
Q

What is a pocket veto?

A

when the bill is still awaiting a signature when the legislative session ends. was last used by Clinton.

74
Q

What is oversight?

A

congressional review and investigation of the activities of the executive branch of government

75
Q

What are the factors affecting the relationship between the presidency and Congress?

A
  • party control
  • party polarisation
    -policy areas
  • election cycles
  • president approval rating
  • congress approval rating
  • national events
76
Q

Describe the impact of party control.

A
  • only effective in divided govts
  • almost all examples of Senate rejections have been in divided govts
  • oversight drops hugely in united govts
  • between 2001 and 2006, Bush controlled a united govt with hardly any oversight.
77
Q

Describe the impact of party polarisation.

A

parties have grown further apart since the 1980s and now causes a strain between the president and the parties, this is made worse in a divided govt

78
Q

Give an act that demonstrates bipartisanship

A

CARES Act 2020

79
Q

Describe the impact of policy area.

A

Congress has more ability to persuade in relation to domestic policy than foreign policy. Presidents can usually pass most legislation based on FP.

80
Q

Describe the impact of election cycles.

A

on the lead up to elections, representatives are more likely to be interested in pleasing their constituents, not the president making oversight take on a different role

81
Q

Describe the impact of the presidential approval rating.

A

Congress exerts less pressure when the approval rating of a president is high. For example, in 2005, only 35% of Americans approved of Bush and therefore they could exert far more pressure onto him.

82
Q

Who has had the lowest approval ratings?

A

Trump - averaging 41% and never exceeding 49%.

83
Q

Describe the impact of congressional approval ratings.

A

The lower their approval rating, the less they can influence and oversee the president

84
Q

What was the approval rating of congress in 2020?

A

18%

85
Q

Describe the impact of national events.

A

congress will often give some of its powers up to the president who will take control. This was seen after 9/11 when Bush was able to pass the PATRIOTS act quite easily.

86
Q

What are standing committees?

A

permanent policy specialists who can give advice on legislation. In the Senate there are typically 18 members and in the House there are 30-40.

87
Q

Give an example of some standing committees.

A

Armed services, budget, judiciary, rules, veterans’ affairs.

88
Q

What are the 3 functions of standing committees?

A

committee stage - involves hearings and witnesses in relation to different bills, tries to ensure that all necessary amendments are made
conducting investigations - provides answers to political questions such aa the House Armed Services committee investigating US Strategy for Syria and Iraq
confirming president appts - they begin the process of looking into the president’s appts and provide a good indication of how they will do.

89
Q

What could be seen as Congress’ largest power over the president?

A

impeachment

90
Q

Which checks do Congress have on the judiciary?

A

constitutional amendments, impeachment, size of the judiciary.

91
Q

When was Congress’ most successful legislative period?

A

Under Johnson when 84 out of 87 bills were signed into law.

92
Q

What did Congress do in the md 20th century?

A

help to massively expand federal power via acts such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

93
Q

How has Congress been since the 1980s?

A

increasingly polarised and therefore in many respects less effective. only 2-3% of bills get passed raising questions about efficiency. additionally, presidential appts have become increasingly politicised as shown by the appt of Coney-Barrett.

94
Q

Which president got the US more involved in foreign policy?

A

Franklin d Roosevelt

95
Q

What happened under Nixon?

A

he violated the fact that Congress is meant to declare war and controlled the Vietnam conflict. In the 1972 War Powers Act, they tried to regain this power but it was largely unsuccessful.

96
Q

What did the War Powers Act mean?

A

if the president does take unilateral action, they must inform Congress within 48 hours. also meant that they couldn’t run operations for over 90 days without Congress approval.

97
Q

What did Obama do in 2011?

A

Authorised bomb strikes in Libya without telling Congress until 2 days later.

98
Q

Overall, what is Congress’ position in foreign policy?

A

officially more powerful but in reality the president holds the most authority.

99
Q

Why have parties become more important?

A

because Congress has become more polarised and party position now matters more.

100
Q

What is the impact of party leadership?

A

separation of powers - party leaders hold little sway in Congress and WH
federalism - little control nationwide
bicameralism - party leaders may only operate in one chamber

101
Q

Who is the leader / speaker of the HOR and Senate?

A

HOR leader - Steve Scalise
HOR speaker - Kevin McCarthy
Senate - Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer

102
Q

How does the nationalisation of campaigns make parties more important?

A

it brings significance to parties on a national scale - the importance was shown in Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ campaign which related to the Republicans.

103
Q

Why can party control in Congress be difficult?

A

they don’t get money incentive or money from their own party. re-election is generally the largest motivation

104
Q

What are lots of Americans likely to do?

A

Join a movement rather than commit to a party.

105
Q

In which ways is Congress successful in representation? (1)

A
  • composition has never been more representative
  • frequent elections ensure accountability
  • members offer the delegate and trustee model
  • caucuses and pressure groups are influential
106
Q

In which ways is Congress unsuccessful in representation? (1)

A
  • not representative of the USA
  • gerrymandering
  • first past the post makes it a 2 party system
  • caucuses aren’t always effective
  • pressure groups can distort representation
107
Q

In which ways is Congress successful in legislation?

A
  • major legislation is regularly passed.
  • only necessary laws get through
  • separation of powers promises compromise in the process
    -the need for supermajorities ensures broad consensus
  • can pass emergency legislation
108
Q

In which ways is Congress unsuccessful in legislation?

A
  • not enough is passed
  • key individuals dominate
  • united govts have too much power
  • gridlock is common
109
Q

In which ways is Congress successful in representation?

A
  • minority groups have increased hugely
  • people have 3 representatives each
  • the parties reflect the partisan population
  • caucuses help
  • interest groups broaden the type of representative
110
Q

In which ways is Congress unsuccessful in representation?

A
  • minorities and women are under represented
  • lobbyists can have too much power
  • representation is compromised by incumbent advantage
  • gerrymandering
111
Q

In which ways is Congress successful in oversight?

A
  • repeatedly overrode the president veto
  • divided govt leads to intense security
  • committees oversee investigations
  • congress uses the power of the purse to limit the president
112
Q

In which ways is Congress unsuccessful oversight?

A
  • veto isn’t easy to override
  • united govts act in favour of the president
  • oversight is party political
  • presidents can get round the oversight

US Politics (5 decks)

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